THINK AGAIN!

Posted on August 5, 2025August 5, 2025 by vlaw759

Doesn’t everyone have favorite brands? Speaking for myself, I’ve never really thought about the “parents” of brands I prefer or brands I avoid. But, lo and behold! It turns out that just a few companies control almost every major food and beverage brand worldwide.

Nestlé’s Brands

“N-e-s-t-l-e-s, Nestlé’s makes the very best chocolate” or so the old jingle goes. Nestlé is chocolate, right? Think again. The Nestlé company makes more than 2,000 brands, from global icons to local favorites. Among the ones I think most familiar to Americans:

Nescafe coffee
Coffee Mate
Nesquik
Starbucks Coffee at home
Purina pet food
Alpo
Beneful
Beggin’ dog treats
Fancy Feast
Tidy Cat
Nature’s Bounty nutritionals
Osteo-Biflex supplements
Puritan’s Pride supplements
Perrier

San Pellegrino
DiGiorno
Häagen-Dazs
Carnation
Cheerios
Trix
Gerber
Heinz
Maggi seasonings
Hot Pockets
Lean Cuisine
Stauffers
KitKat
Toll House

Mars Brands

The Nestlé company isn’t alone in product diversity. Mars, more than 100 years old and still family owned, for example, makes one think candy, but think again! Their products include many candies, of course, such as:

3 Musketeers
American Heritage Chocolate
Dove
Dove Bar
Kudos
M-Azing
M&M’s
M&M’s World
Mars
Milky Way
My M&M’s
Snickers
Twix

Wrigley

The Wrigley Company brands (Mars being the parent company) include:

Altoids
Big Red
Doublemint
Eclipse
Eclipse Ice
Excel
Extra
Freedent
Juicy Fruit
Life Savers
Orbit
Skittles
Starburst
Wrigley’s
Wrigley’s Spearmint
Winterfresh

Mars Veterinary Division

Veterinary care and research are a wholly unexpected (by me) Mars endeavor, but maybe you thought pet products?

Cesar Canine Cuisine
Chappi
Crave
Iams Kit-e-Kat
Max
My Dog
Natura
Nutro Products
Pedigree
PrettyLitter
Temptations
Whiskas

Quaker Oats Brands

Quaker Oats registered the first trademark for a breakfast cereal in 1877, and since then, Quaker means oats, right? Well, yes. But it also means so much more now!

Old Fashioned & Quick Oats
Instant Oatmeal
Steel Cut Oats Instant
Oatmeal Cups
Gluten Free Oatmeal
Organic Oatmeal
Oat bran

But also

Granola (in a couple of varieties)
Grits (several versions)
Rice cakes
Rice crisps
Rice thins
Rice chips
Chewy Granola Bars
Variety Bundles
Protein Granola Bars
Oatmeal squares (brown sugar, cinnamon, & honey nut)
Barley
Corn Meal
Mixes
Oat Flour

Pepsi Brands

Although you might think of Quaker Oats Company as a stand-alone, think again! It was actually acquired by PepsiCo in 200l, primarily to gain control of Gatorade. So now one umbrella company also produces these, among others:

Pepsi
Lay’s
Mtn Dew
Doritos
Gatorade
Ruffles
Cheetos
Brisk
Propel
Pasta Roni
Sabra
Simply Baked
Rice A Roni
SunChips
Jack Link’s

So, what’s my point? There isn’t one, really, just my shock and awe that when it comes to commercial brands, earlobes are connected to elbows—i.e., bodies of products that seem to have no relation to each other.

Bottom Line: It seems multi-national companies are “all over the map” when it comes to diversifying product lines. And does it matter?

BLACK GOLD

Posted on May 6, 2025May 6, 2025 by vlaw759

I love freshly ground black pepper! Those who know me know my favorite flavor so well that a friend gave me my personal pepper grinder, with a black bag to carry it with me virtually anywhere.

Pepper loses its flavor and aroma through evaporation, so keep it in an airtight container and out of the sun. For the best flavor, grind whole peppercorns just before eating. But beware: whipping out your personal pepper grinder at McDonald’s might earn you some stares and side-eyed looks.

And I’m not alone in liking pepper. Black pepper represents about 50% of a typical restaurant’s spice usage. The United States is currently the world’s biggest consumer of pepper. As of 2024, the United States imported US$325.6 million (19% of total black pepper imports).

Nor is pepper only recently appreciated. People have used pepper in cooking for over 4,000 years. Ancient Egyptians placed pepper in the nostrils of mummies to accompany the pharaohs over 2,500 years before Christ.

History

Egyptians used toothpaste containing black pepper — *Egyptians made toothpaste from pepper, mint, rock salt, and iris flowers.*

Long before “black gold” came to mean oil in some places, in the “Old World” it was a synonym for pepper. Pepper was so valuable in ancient times that people used it to pay taxes, tributes, dowries, and rent. It was weighed like gold and used as a common medium of exchange.

In ancient Greece, priests offered pepper to the gods in sacred rituals and even used it in place of gold.

Pliny the Elder complained in 77 C.E. about the price of peppercorns and the amount of money Rome paid to India every year for black pepper. When Alaric, king of the Visigoths, captured Rome in AD 410, he demanded 3,000 pounds of pepper (in addition to gold and silver) as ransom.

There are some arguments that black pepper may have been available in China as early as the Second Century B.C.E., during the Han Dynasty. However, historians generally agree that the hujiao (胡椒, foreign pepper) described in Chinese records in the Third Century C.E., was piper nigrum, black pepper.

Saint Aldhelm, a seventh century Bishop of Sherborne, wrote a riddle about the value of pepper in his life:

I am black on the outside, clad in a wrinkled cover,
Yet within I bear a burning marrow.
I season delicacies, the banquets of kings, and the luxuries of the table,
Both the sauces and the tenderized meats of the kitchen.
But you will find in me no quality of any worth,
Unless your bowels have been rattled by my gleaming marrow.

from Riddles of St. Aldhelm

In the Middle Ages in Europe, pepper was an acceptable form of currency in some regions. Indeed, at times, peppercorns were worth more by weight than silver. A scornful term for wealthy merchants in medieval Germany was pfeffersack or “pepper sack.” The value of peppercorns, among other spices, made ventures like that of Christopher Columbus a worthwhile financial prospect.

Is Black Pepper Good for Anything but Flavor?

All indications are “Yes.” And here’s an overview!

Like many spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and a medicine. Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani medicines in India all mention black peppercorns. The Buddhist Samaññaphala Sutta lists pepper as one of the few medicines monks may carry. The 5th century Syriac Book of Medicines prescribes pepper for many illnesses:

Constipation
Diarrhea
Earache
Gangrene
Heart disease
Hernia
Hoarseness
Indigestion
Insect bites
Insomnia
Joint pain
Liver problems
Lung disease
Oral abscesses
Sunburn
Tooth decay
Toothaches

Various sources from the 5th century onward also say pepper is good to treat eye problems. Sometimes, physicians applied special ointments containing pepper directly to the eye. There is no current medical evidence that any of these treatments has any benefit; pepper applied directly to the eye would be quite uncomfortable and possibly damaging.

What Modern Research Reveals

Black pepper on its own provides some of the minerals needed in a healthy diet. One tablespoon (6 grams) of ground black pepper contains moderate amounts of vitamin K (13% of the daily value or DV), iron (10% DV), and manganese (18% DV), with trace amounts of other essential nutrients, protein, and dietary fiber.

Scientists at the Royal Society of Medicine and Sabinsa Corporation are studying piperine’s potential to increase absorption of selenium, vitamin B₁₂, beta-carotene, and curcumin, as well as other compounds.

Black pepper and its active compound piperine may have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Laboratory studies suggest that black pepper may improve cholesterol levels, blood sugar control, and brain and gut health.

Despite these promising findings, more studies in humans are needed to better understand the exact health benefits of black pepper and its concentrated extracts.

Pepper can irritate the intestines. Doctors encourage patients having abdominal surgery or ulcers to eliminate black pepper from their diets.

Components of black pepper are often added to commercial mouthwashes and breath fresheners to treat sore throats.

Molecular formula of piperine, active compound in black pepper — *Piperine molecular formula: C17H19NO3*

The caffeine content level of black pepper, as far as I could find, is negligible.

Pepper contains small amounts of safrole, a carcinogenic compound. I found no evidence that this is problematic.

How Many Kinds of Black Pepper are There?

Excluding sweet bell peppers, chili peppers, etc., which are entirely different plants, there’s only one pepper.

Black Pepper comes from the dried fruit peppercorn (piper nigrum). It grows on a perennial flowering vine. When the plants reach maturity, peppercorns are stripped from the stem and then boiled for a few minutes before drying in the sun for several days. They are then flash dried. Black peppercorns are green when harvested and change color while drying.

Commercial pepper comes in many colors—green, black, red, and white—but all come from the same plant, the color determined by how ripe it is and how it has been processed.

White peppercorns are black pepper without skin. Ground table pepper is typically 70% black and 30% white. However, the good stuff is 50/50.

While black pepper is a staple in most American kitchens, white pepper is more popular in French, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Swedish cooking. White pepper, though similar to black, has a sharper and mustier flavor. Use care when substituting one for the other!

Because the berries remain on the vine longer than normal before harvest, red peppercorns are the most expensive available.

Growers classify pepper as either garbled or un-garbled. The garbled variety is black and nearly globular, with a wrinkled surface. The ungarbled variety also has a wrinkled surface, but the color varies from dark brown to black.

Once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit and oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Many medicinal and beauty products include pepper spirit. Pepper oil is also popular in ayurvedic massage oil and in certain beauty and herbal treatments.

Note: A completely unrelated species (chili peppers from the Capsicum family) is referred to as “red pepper.” Chili peppers, which are native to the Americas, were originally introduced to Europe as a substitute for black pepper due to their pungent flavor.

And a Few More Pepper Facts

People have long believed pepper is the cause for sneezing. Some sources say that piperine irritates the nostrils, which will cause the sneezing. Others say that it is just the effect of the fine dust in ground pepper. Still others say that pepper is not in fact a very effective sneeze-producer at all. Few if any controlled studies have been carried out to answer the question.

The plant is particular about soil conditions and thrives in soil that is “just right,” not too dry and not too wet.

Pepper is cultivated in tropical regions and is native to the Malabar region of southern India, where it grows as a tall vine with the peppercorns as flowering drupes.

Traders formed spice routes from India to Europe and often fought over them. One source maintains that, in an attempt to establish direct trade with Indian pepper plantations, Christopher Columbus inadvertently stumbled upon the Americas and consequently mislabeled the native inhabitants as “Indians.”

In the past, the expense of pepper limited its consumption to the extremely wealthy classes in India. For the first time, India is now a net pepper importer because of rising consumption among the growing middle class.

Accounting for about 20% of the monetary value of the world’s spice trade, black pepper is now produced mainly in India, Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia.

Pastry chefs in fine dining restaurants include black pepper in all kinds of desserts. It’s an especially delicious surprise in chocolate sweets, from fudge brownies and chocolate layer cake to chocolate truffles.

What Pepper isn’t Good For

A commonly held myth claims that cooks in the Middle Ages used pepper to conceal the taste of partially rotten meat. There is no evidence to support this claim, and historians view it as highly unlikely: in the Middle Ages, pepper was a luxury item, affordable only to the very wealthy, who certainly had unspoiled meat available. In addition, at that time, people certainly knew that eating spoiled food would make them sick. In fact, a law in York, England required butchers to sell meat within 24 hours of slaughtering or face a fine!

A similar belief that pepper was in wide use as a preservative is also questionable. It is true that piperine, the compound that gives pepper its spiciness, has some antimicrobial properties. However, at the concentrations present when pepper is used as a spice, the effect is small.

Bottom Line: Given possible health effects, and no evidence of possible “overdose,” this amazing flavor-enhancer is worth adding to your daily cooking: its bold flavor is a great addition to almost any dish, savory or sweet.

EATING LIKE YOUR GREAT GRANDPARENTS

Posted on April 15, 2025April 15, 2025 by vlaw759

I’m not talking about old family recipes here. I’m talking about “bought foods” some from hundreds of years ago, still consumed today. These brands are still popular in the United States; people in other countries are no doubt eating and drinking like their own great grandparents, but I am focusing on the brands I know.

Breakfast

You may be starting your day off by eating (and caffeinating) just like your ancestors!

In 1850, William H. Bovee, the owner of the Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills in San Francisco, built a mill that allowed him to sell pre-roasted, ground coffee. In 1865, A. Folger became a full partner, going on to buy out the other partners and rename the company J.A. Folger & Co. in 1872. Folger’s Coffee was born.

Farther east, in 1873, Joel Cheek left Kentucky to seek a new life in Nashville, Tennessee. Eventually he launched the Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company. In 1892, Cheek created a special blend of coffee that he named after the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, which was one of his biggest customers. Legend has it that in 1907 President Teddy Roosevelt visited Maxwell House, the prestigious Nashville hotel and after finishing a cup of their namesake coffee, he declared it was, “good to the last drop.”

Ferdinand Schumacher founded the German Mills American Oatmeal Company in the 1850s in Akron, Ohio. With Robert Stuart of Ontario, he opened the Quaker Mill Company in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national advertising campaign for Quaker Oats.

John Harvey Kellogg/W.K. Kellogg created Kellogg’s Corn Flakes at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan in 1894. Kellogg was supporting good health through a vegetarian diet. Accidentally invented as a breakfast food to counter indigestion, Corn Flakes, the first dry, flaked breakfast cereal, became the most popular dry breakfast cereal in the world.

Lunch

You can take a break at lunchtime by eating the same lunch your great grandparents enjoyed!

Wonder Bread is an American brand of sliced bread. Established in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1921, it was one of the first companies to sell sliced bread nationwide by 1930. Elmer Cline named the company after the wonder he felt witnessing the launch of hundreds of hot air balloons at the International Balloon Race in Indianapolis.

After working for many years in a Chicago sausage factory, Oscar Mayer opened his first hot dog shop in 1883. Events like the Chicago World Fair in 1893, World War I, the release of the Wienermobiles, and the Oscar Mayer Wiener song made these hot dogs a cultural phenomenon.

In 1898, a LeRoy, New York-based carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer named Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked a combination of granulated gelatin, sugar, and flavoring called Jell-O. The first flavors were strawberry, raspberry, orange, and lemon.

Baking

Many of the brands modern bakers use have not changed substantially in generations. Even when baking at home, you may be eating the same cake as your great-grandparents!

In 1790, Henry Wood launched a company specializing in importing and distributing English-milled flour in Boston. Henry Wood & Co started milling and selling American-grown flour in 1825, when the Erie Canal made distribution faster and more reliable. They launched a new product in 1895 called King Arthur Flour (the name inspired by the hit musical of the day, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table).

In 1764, John Hannon and Dr. James Baker started importing cacao beans and producing chocolate in Dorcester, Massachusetts. For 15 years, the duo produced chocolate under the company name Hannon’s Best Chocolate. Hannon went on a cacao-gathering trip to the West Indies in 1779, and never returned. Baker changed the company name to Baker Chocolate Company.

Charles Alfred Pillsbury founded C.A. Pillsbury and Company along with his uncle, John Pillsbury, in Minneapolis in 1872. Pillsbury was the second company in the United States to use steel rollers for grain processing. The Doughboy didn’t come around until 1965.

Carnation is now a brand of food products, but Elbridge Amos Stuart began as a dairy farmer in 1908. In addition to selective breeding, Carnation Farms aimed to increase milk production through keeping their cows happy and stress-free. The brand was especially known for its evaporated milk product created in 1899, first called Carnation Sterilized Cream and later called Carnation Evaporated Milk.

In 1912, a group of California raisin growers created the California Associated Raisin Company, which became Sun-Maid Growers of California. So, while not as old as some, Sun-Maid Raisins have still been around longer than today’s consumers.

Sauces

Even if the other ingredients change, the flavors of what you’re eating may not be very different from what your great-grandparents ate.

When Edmund McIlhenny and his wife Mary Eliza first settled Avery Island, Louisiana, in 1859, they made a mint harvesting salt and selling it to the Confederates. The Union Army ransacked his entire operation. When McIlhenny inspected his land after the war was over, he noticed something growing: a spicy pepper native to the Mexican state of Tabasco. McIlhenny planted tabasco peppers all over the island, and started selling his Tabasco Hot Sauce, made with those peppers and Avery Island salt, in 1868.

The story of Heinz Ketchup began in 1876 when it was first marketed as “catsup” by Henry J. Heinz. In the Unites States, many assume ketchup is always tomato-based, but that is an American invention. Around the world, people have made ketchups with all sorts of main ingredients, for example, mushrooms or bananas.

Drinks

In addition to eating like your ancestors, there is a very good chance you’re drinking like them!

Johannes “Reginald” Beam, a Kentucky farmer, began producing whiskey in the style that would eventually become known as bourbon, and sold his first barrel of corn whiskey, which he called Old Jake Beam Sour Mash, in 1795. Today this is Jim Beam Bourbon, of course.

On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton poured the world’s first glass of Coca-Cola at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in Atlanta, Ga. He served about nine drinks. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it didn’t catch on immediately. The first recipe for Coke contained both wine and cocaine, and was marketed toward upper class intellectuals.

Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina, invented a concoction that he originally called Brad’s Drink in 1893. He changed the name in 1898 to Pepsi-Cola, to advertise that his drink got its flavoring from kola nuts and could treat dyspepsia. Though the original recipe did not have any pepsin, it did contain vanilla and sugar, which Bradham claimed would aid in digestion and boost energy.

Yuengling Beer is a product of D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery, and largest wholly American-owned brewery in the United States. Its headquarters are in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

Thomas Lipton opened a small grocery shop in 1871 in Glasgow, Scotland. While traveling to source new stock for his store, he purchased tea gardens in modern-day Sri Lanka in 1890. He was able to control the entire supply chain, selling Lipton Tea in packets with the slogan “Direct from the tea gardens to the teapot.”

Snacks

Between meals, there’s a good chance you’re eating the same snacks as your great-grandparents. Though the recipes have no doubt changed, you may be reaching for the same brands and labels.

“The invention of the potato chip is attributed to George Crum, who was born George Speck in 1824, the son of an African American father and a Native American mother who was a member of the Huron people. In 1853 he was a cook at Moon’s Lake House restaurant in Saratoga Springs, New York. A customer sent back his order of fried potatoes, stating that the slices were too thick. Supposedly, Crum cut thinner slices of potato, but the customer was still dissatisfied. An annoyed Crum then decided to cut thin sections of potato and fry them in oil until they resembled crispy disks that could not be eaten with a fork. The customer, instead of being irritated, was delighted by the crunchy potatoes. Other restaurant patrons then requested the dish, leading the establishment to offer its special Saratoga chips.”
Encyclopedia Britannica

According to a taste test by Bon Appetit, the best potato chips today are Lay’s Classic.

The Rueckheim Brothers of Chicago, Il. trademarked the Cracker Jack label in 1896. However, coated popcorn and peanut mixtures had been around since at least the late 1850s and people were described eating them in articles dating from about 1857 to the 1880s. The contribution of the Rueckheim Brothers was largely to make the product less messy to eat by means of a carefully guarded process of processing. Circa 1899, Henry Eckstein joined Frederick Rueckheim & Bro, adding the packaging that would be familiar to anyone who bought Cracker Jacks well into the 1960s and beyond.

Not so old, but the Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. The name of the company has changed over time: Hershey Chocolate Co. (1894–1927), Hershey Chocolate Corporation (1927–68), Hershey Foods Corporation (1968–2005). Whatever the name, Hershey chocolates are classic.

Tootsie Rolls are a chocolate caramel candy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped in America. According to the company, they make over 65 million Tootsie Rolls daily.

Bottom Line: If the original product is good, subsequent iterations can go on indefinitely.

THE WELL-TRAVELED TURKEY

Posted on October 31, 2023October 31, 2023 by vlaw759

Once Halloween is over, it’s all about Thanksgiving. The shift of focus from goblins to gobblers is instantaneous. Although officially called Thanksgiving, for many it’s really Turkey Day. But beyond dinner, what do people really know of Meleagris gallopavo, the wild turkey that gave rise to the one likely to be on the platter?

Turkeys in North America

Turkeys are native to North America, as are all the subspecies. M. gallopavo silvestris, sometimes called forest turkeys or eastern wild turkeys, are the most numerous of the subspecies, more than five million.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Native Americans domesticated turkeys more than 1500 years ago, before Europeans set foot on the continent. Archaeologists have found turkey bones in burial mounds in Tennessee, Kentucky and some other parts of the South. Turkey relics have surfaced in Arizona dating as far back as 25 C.E., and turkey-raising may well be one of the oldest forms of organized meat production in the Northern Hemisphere.

Indigenous farmers raised turkeys in Mexico and Central America more than 500 years before the Spanish arrived. Evidence of turkey bones at religious sites and burial mounds suggests that turkeys served a ceremonial role as well as providing meat. Although native to North America, the turkey’s range extended into Mexico.

Turkey Trade in Central America

Chalchiuhtotolin, Aztec turkey god — *Chalchiuhtotolin, the god of plagues, depicted as a turkey in the Aztec Codex*

Central Mexico once acted as a center of turkey domestication. Archaeologists have found bones of Meleagris gallopavo from as early as 8000 B.C.E. in what was once Maya territory. Remains of turkey pens and fossilized poop containing traces of corn suggest ancient Mayans kept and fed turkeys, trading them throughout Central America.

A 1980s archaeological dig at the El Mirador assemblage in Guatemala unearthed seven turkey skeletons. The bones were from more than 2000 years ago and more than 400 miles from their native range in Central Mexico.

One thing is certain, says Erin Kennedy Thornton, an environmental archaeologist at Trent University Archaeological Research Centre in Peterborough, Canada. The turkeys “didn’t walk there [to the Jaguar Paw Temple] themselves.” Like many Native American cultures, she says, the Maya used turkey feathers in ornaments and carved turkey bones into picks, pins, and elaborate tubes.

Thornton studied the bones, and concluded they did not belong to the indigenous ocellated turkeys that roamed Mayan territory. Those birds are small, with blue heads and iridescent blue, green, and copper feathers, she says,”almost like a cross between a turkey and a peacock.” The bones found in the temple appeared to belong to the larger, duller Mexican turkey.

After reexamining the bones, Thornton collaborated with archaeologist Camilla Speller, an expert in ancient DNA analysis at the University of Calgary in Canada, to confirm that the bones belonged to M. gallopavo. Only one of the bones yielded enough replicable DNA for analysis. That DNA was an exact match with M. gallopavo, and not the ocellated turkey.

Mayan traders maintained long-distance exchange networks between northern Mesoamerica and Mayan territory. They moved many objects such as jade, obsidian, and pottery throughout these networks between 300 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., when the bones likely originated, says Thornton. However, she says, this is the first sign that Mayan traders may have transported living animals as well.

As early as 300 B.C.E, people transported Mexican turkeys between 650 and 950 kilometers outside of the their natural range. In a study Thornton and others published, they argued that this distribution suggests turkey domestication in Mexico may have begun centuries earlier than scientists previously thought.

“I think they did a good job of making the case that the Meleagris gallopavo birds at El Mirador were derived from Central Mexico and were probably being confined,” says William Lipe, an archaeologist at Washington State University, Pullman. However, the small sample of DNA concerns him, and he agrees with Thornton that scientists need to do more research. “My guess is that the history of turkey domestication in the New World is fairly complex and that we are just beginning to see some of the outlines of it.”

Turkeys in Europe

Turks call this bird a “Hindi.” Hindi speakers call it a “Peru.” Arabic speakers call it a “Greek chicken.” Greeks call it a “French chicken.” The French call it an “Indian chicken.”

So, it’s likely that the Mayans of southern Mexico domesticated turkeys, maybe 2000 years ago. Spanish explorers took Mexican wild turkeys domesticated by the Aztecs back to Europe about 1519. These turkeys spread rapidly throughout Europe, and traders introduced them to England between 1524 and 1541. There, they became a highly sought-after element of gourmet dinners.

After those early domestic turkeys spread across Europe in the 1500s, European colonists brought them back. When colonists set off for the New World, they brought turkeys back across the Atlantic, to the land of their origin. At the time, the turkey was already one of the most plentiful foods of Native Americans. The wild cousin is slim, tall and long-legged. It possesses keen eyesight, hearing, and native cunning, making it a difficult target for human and animal hunters alike.

“The wild turkey in a sprint can outrun a galloping horse for a short distance,” said Charles Ruth, Big Game Program coordinator for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). “Although it is one of the largest game birds, weighing up to 25 pounds, it can fly distances of more than a mile, sometimes at speeds of 55 miles per hour.”

The Modern Turkey

Despite these survival traits, by the early 20th century, wild turkey numbers had plummeted because of overhunting and loss of habitat. In the early 1900s, the population reached a low of around 30,000 birds.

Fortunately, game managers stepped in, re-introducing wild-caught birds to areas where turkeys had disappeared. Thanks to these efforts, since the 1940s, wild turkeys have been prospering. There are now wild turkeys in all of the lower 48 states and even Hawaii, far beyond their original range. They number more than seven million.

Restoration of the wild turkey in South Carolina is one of the Palmetto State’s most noteworthy conservation success stories. In the early 1900s, only small pockets of wild turkeys survived in South Carolina. They lived primarily in the Lowcountry’s Francis Marion National Forest and along the Savannah River swamps. Today, the wild turkey is widespread throughout South Carolina. All 46 counties hold a spring hunting season (there is no fall season). Wild turkey restoration was made possible through the efforts of the SCDNR, the National Wild Turkey Federation, the forest products industry, private landowners, and South Carolina sportsmen and sportswomen.

Myths Busted

The name of the Republic of Turkey (now spelled Türkiye) and the funny-looking bird we eat in November are actually related (maybe). In the 1550s, merchants brought the birds to England by way of Spain and North Africa. People associated the new delicacy with the Ottoman Empire, particularly with the Turkish people.

Myth: Benjamin Franklin suggested the turkey as a national symbol or part of the Great Seal for America.
- Fact: In 1784, Benjamin Franklin did praise the turkey. He wrote that compared to the bald eagle, the turkey is “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America.” But he never actually proposed the turkey as a symbol for America.

Myth: Turkeys are just big chickens.
- Fact: More than 45 million years of evolution separates the two species. However, both are more closely related to dinosaurs than most modern birds!

Myth: Turkeys are so dumb, they’ll stare at the sky during a storm and drown in the rain.
- Fact: Some turkeys have a unique genetic condition called tetanic torticollar spasms. This condition can result in some strange behaviors, like staring at the sky. No turkeys with this condition have been reported dying from looking up in the rain.

Myth: Turkey is high in tryptophan. Eating turkey makes you sleepy.
- Fact: Turkey is just one of many foods that contain tryptophan. In order to feel the effects, you’d need to eat nearly 8 pounds of turkey in one sitting.

Bottom Line: When you think turkey, think beyond the supermarket.

Vivian Lawry

Writer

food history